Case Study: Junior Chamber of commerce of Montreal (JCCM)
Client: Junior Chamber of commerce of Montreal (JCCM)
Mandate: Montreal Climate Partnership - Businesses Working Group
Fields: Decarbonisation, mitigation and adaptation to climate change
The Context
In January 2021, the Montreal Climate Partnership (MCP) was officially launched as a result of the City of Montreal's 2020-2030 Climate Plan, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 55% by 2030 and to chart a trajectory towards carbon neutrality by 2050.
The Montreal Climate Partnership is an independent initiative that brings together key change-makers to ensure the success of the 2020-2030 Climate Plan. Ahead of the launch of the initiative, six working areas were identified - each of them addressing a key aspect of the wider Climate Plan’s objectives: Buildings, Mobility, Businesses, Adaptation, Citizen Projects, and Finance.
A working group therefore had to be created for the Businesses working area. The Montreal Climate Partnership enlisted the Junior Chamber of commerce of Montreal (JCCM) to coordinate and mobilize this working group. The JCCM saw this as an opportunity to deepen its involvement in climate action—a highly significant focus for its members—whilst also representing the interests and needs of the next generation of business leaders. Additionally, it aimed to bring a dynamic and innovative perspective to the Montreal Climate Partnership's initiative.
The Challenge
When it came to the mandate given by the Montreal Climate Partnership, the JCCM quickly identified potential challenges as it had limited internal resources and knowledge of the specific expertise required to successfully carry out the project. Recognising the importance of the success of the initiative, the JCCM decided to get external experts to coordinate the working group: KELP strategies. This strategic decision deeply aligned with the organization’s desire to engage an experienced and trusted partner that had a proven track record and demonstrated knowledge in sustainable development and climate change.
The Methodology
The Junior Chamber of Commerce of Montreal (JCCM) chose KELP Stratégies as a partner to assist in coordinating and mobilizing the Businesses working group. In close collaboration with the JCCM, the KELP strategies team brought together 20 diverse Montreal-based organizations, including large corporations, institutions, nonprofit organizations, associations, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
This working group was tasked with identifying and contributing to the implementation of at least one joint initiative to accelerate concrete and structural solutions to combat climate change. It was also expected to encourage the mobilization of relevant stakeholders to adopt new measures adapted to their economic and business realities.
To adequately represent the diversity of the Montreal business community and to also benefit from the various perspectives of actors from different industries, the JCCM and KELP strategies ensured the inclusion of organizations of different types and sizes, each representing a key industry on the Island of Montreal.
KELP strategies' mandate took several forms—its deployment included:
Coordinating all activities of the working group
Designing and facilitating the entire process, from forming and mobilizing the group to preparing and leading group meetings, including calls with group members and potential partners
Facilitating group discussions
Supporting and assisting group members in identifying and implementing initiatives
The entire mandate and process lasted over two years, allowing the working group to collectively identify the transition of SMEs as the key issue to address. The challenge? Whilst Montreal's SMEs have numerous tools and resources to tackle GHG emission-related issues, they face several obstacles, such as a lack of time and internal resources, difficulty in finding relevant information, and uncertainty about the concrete economic outcomes of their actions.
Screenshot from one of the working sessions with the Businesses working group.
The Result
After two years of discussions, idea exchanges and debates among the stakeholders of the Businesses working group, they came out of the process with a common initiative: the development and establishment of a climate hub dedicated to the transition of businesses. This ambitious, large-scale initiative however had to start with a smaller, achievable sub-project which would lay out the foundations of the bigger initiative at hand. This is why the JCCM conducted research that would later on result in funding for this first sub-project: a mapping of the climate ecosystem.
In addition to this initial sub-project arising from the initiative developed and designed by the Businesses group members, many other ideas were developed in parallel by various members of the group. Although the initial mandate was to provide a single idea aligned with the 2020-2030 Climate Plan, the outcome was instead a diversity of solutions and initiatives, each addressing the different realities of Montreal's business community.
This mandate for the Junior Chamber of commerce of Montreal leverages some of KELP strategies’ services. Have a similar need for your organization? Go through our current offering for businesses and get in touch with us for a first informal conversation.